1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for heat exchange between a first fluid and a second fluid, the heat exchanger includes a core for guidance of the first and second fluid separately from one another and in a heat-exchanging manner, which core has a number of flow channels that can be flowed through by the first fluid and a housing accommodating the flow channels, which housing can be flowed through by the second fluid; at least one case cover that is flow-connected to the flow channels; and a base, which is fixed to the cover and is provided with one or more through openings for flow channels. The invention further relates to a use of the heat exchanger.
2. Description of the Background Art
With a known heat exchanger, a case cover can be formed from deep-drawn sheet metal, which is soldered to the core during the production process. Although this has advantages in the high-temperature range, attachment elements such as, e.g., holders or flanges for sensors must be produced as additional parts from sheet metal and connected to the case cover before the soldering, which makes the production process more complicated. Furthermore, a more complex case shape can generally no longer be produced as a deep-drawn part, so that in this case a casting production must be carried out and the case cover must generally be welded to the core. This type of case has proven to be comparatively expensive and complex to produce, particularly with more complex designs.
A more cost-effective alternative to heat exchangers of this type is a heat exchanger of the type mentioned at the outset, in which the case has a case cover of plastic. Here comparatively complex designs can be realized, wherein higher temperature ranges can definitely be realized with corresponding plastic materials and a corresponding design of the case. Examples of case covers of plastic are given in DE 10 2004 051 207 A1 and DE 10 2004 047 901 A1, which corresponds to U.S. Publication No. 20070175612, and which are all herein incorporated by reference.
There are fundamentally different ways of attaching a plastic case cover to the heat exchanger, thus, for example, attachments such as are shown in WO 2004/09457, FIG. 2 or DE 199 53 785 A1, FIG. 4, which is also herein incorporated by reference.
DE 10 2005 012 761 A1 discloses a heat exchanger mentioned at the outset with a housing of two side parts and two housing covers, wherein the side parts are soldered to the core and the housing covers are welded to the side parts. Furthermore, collecting boxes of plastic are mechanically connected to tube sheets with the interposition of a seal. The mechanical connection is carried out by bending tabs of the tube sheets over the edge of the collecting box. This type of heat exchanger is in need of improvement.